PHILADEPHIA –
As people around the world continue to curtail the spread of COVID-19, the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support is helping protect soldiers in Korea with disposable gloves.
In late March, the Clothing and Textiles organizational clothing and individual equipment team expedited an emergency order for 30,000 pairs of gloves for the 498th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion in Korea.
C&T customer account specialist Michael Spinelli received the request and coordinated with Dave Emeott, the DLA sourcing strategy specialist onsite at a third party logistics, or 3PL, warehouse in Lansing, Michigan.
Spinelli and Emeott then analyzed cost and delivery options with 3PL contracting officer Denise Vogelei, and OCIE team supervisor Angela Gonzalez, and advised the 3PL to ship the order directly to the customer.
Typically, if an order is not shipped directly to customer it could have gone to the DLA Distribution Services Central Control Point in Tracy, California, Emeott explained.
“This process may have taken longer to arrive in Korea,” Emeott said. “Additionally, DLA Troop Support C&T would have lost visibility on tracking the order after delivery to [California].”
Vogelei and 3PL contracting team supervisor Ken Gunn tracked the shipment daily to ensure a smooth delivery.
The disposable gloves arrived in Korea and cleared customs by the customer’s requested delivery date of March 31.
“By making the decision to ship this order ‘customer direct,’ we saved weeks in delivery time and were able to provide a more rapid response in the COVID-19 effort,” Vogelei said. “This was a perfect example of collaboration between all parties - from the DLA customer account specialists, to contracting and DLA’s 3PL warehouse [teams] - to ensure DLA’s Line of Effort, ‘Warfighter Support,’ was upheld.”